HODGEPODGE JANUARY 20

1. What's something we'd find you doing most afternoons? 

Nothing special because I am locked in because of the lockdown ! I surf on Internet, I watch TV, sometimes shopping and our lockdown meeting with my two friends. Ah yes I forgot, there is also the telephone !!

2. Who do you take after? In what way(s)?

My parents pretend that I am as crazy as my aunt, my mother's sister who loved adventures, travelling and had the same hobbies as I have. I also looked like he. My parent's friends and the rest of the  family pretended that I have nothing taken from them but that I am rather a Cuckoos egg, because these birds lay their eggs in the nests of other birds, who are fooled into raising the infant cuckoo as one of their own.

3. 'After every storm comes a rainbow' or 'the calm before the storm'...which phrase do you relate to more right now? Tell us why? 

In normal times I would say that after every storm comes a rainbow because with me a glass is always half full and never empty ! But now after two lockdowns and deprived of my freedom, I am rather thinking the calm before the storm, because each time I am hopeful my lifestyle would become normal again, another bad news arrives !

4.What are your plans for the day after tomorrow?  

I will celebrate a lockdown birthday with 3 friends ! 

5. Complete this sentence-"After all is said and done I go to bed." 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I think I stopped thinking ! Anyway it doesn't change a thing ! Each day is the same and no end is in view ! If at least we would have nice weather so that I could go in the woods and try to make nice pictures, but it is wet and muddy and you can't even go inside a bar and warm you up with a drink. Everything is closed.  And shopping is not at all my thing !

 

 

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

We had home cinema today from our living room. First the view was as every day a big fir !

Then suddenly when we looked out again all branches were gone and just the head was still standing ! We started to take pictures and admired the guy who was sawing so high up ! And slowly slowly the fir became smaller and smaller until only the trunk remained with the guy now standing on a ladder. 

We thought what a hard work that was to cut such a big tree !

and now when I look outside I see other houses ! Meanwhile it had snowed a bit !

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VIRTUAL NEW YEAR 2020/2021 IN BERLIN

New Year's Eve in Berlin at the Brandenburg Gate 2020 was completely different as in all the other years before. In 2019 it looked like this : 

 "Welcome 2021": The traditional New Year's Eve party at the Brandenburg Gate was replaced in 2020 by a virtual New Year's Eve  show without spectators at least not in the street and on the place in front of the gate !

Empty place and streets

But lots of spectators at home on their screens who participated !

Artists doing their show outside under the gate

and lots of lights and fireworks

The show was aired on TV of course and I have to say it was really very good and funny ! I think they wanted to comfort the population who all suffered of the lockdown. 

I was home and watched too. We had curfew at 10 and our guests were all gone, we were 6 in total so very brave ! 

The following pictures I took at the TV screen !

Dancing and famous singers performed also outside under the gate.

Maybe the quality of the pictures is not the best but as it was such a special New Year and I couldn't travel to Berlin, I had at least a nice virtual New Year which also was the very first of my life !

 Linking to Happy Tuesday

 

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AWWWW MONDAY - WEEKEND JAN 16

Lockdown syndroms !

Linking to AWWW MONDAYS 

WEEKEND

Friday it was the first time this year that it snowed ! On Saturday morning when I woke up the world was white and looked beautiful behind the building, as if I was in a touristic snow area ! But the front was different ! There it had started to melt and the cars had made the snow disappeared and it had started to rain !

 

In the afternoon a friend of Mr. G. came to explain how to use the new mobile ! What a prodedure !

Somebody who has made programs for big companies his whole working life, was now confronted with a mobile for seniors which is so easy to use that he is completely lost because he looks for complications. 

With a lot of patience he explained and explained, the trouble was Mr. G. wanted more to know how that thing works inside and not how to use it. So it took some time to put into his mind the design of the two buttons from the mobile phone and the Whatsapp phone. 

 Poor grandson who send him a Whatsapp message couldn't understand that his grandpa had difficulties with that, he is 10 years old ! So we spent the whole afternoon to try to put the use of a smartphone into Mr. G's brain !! Even Rosie tried to help !

On Sunday all the snow was gone only a few white spots were here and there. Mr. G got on my nerves the whole morning when I wanted to write and answer my emails he always had another question and each time I had to start again ! Finally I told him to try it by himself then he would remember better ! Fortunately he found something to do with his smartphone and left me in peace !

In the afternoon we had our lockdown meeting at Nicole's and again her cousin had baked this time delicious "éclairs" for us which means "lightening" I don't know why !

We chatted about the vaccination program in the different countries, and about the lockdown in general and then we digged out funny adventures of our youth and the afternoon went by very quickly ! At least we had the feeling to lead a normal life. Only the masks which we had to wear when we went on the street brought us back in the reality !

Miss Isis listened with great interest !

THE FIRST THING

When I wake up in the morning it's still dark and the first thing which comes into my mind is, why do we have this winter time, now it's 8 am and in summer it would be 9 and already daylight. Strange logic, because in the evening it's dark at 5 pm and summertime would be 6 ! But this is not always the first time what I think. 

Mostly I try to make a plan for things I would, could, and should do ! That's usually my first thing which moves slowly in my brain. And then I realize that besides staying home and try to put some order in my million photos, try to write when my head is empty or watch a movie. For household scores I don't make plans because I know I won't keep them and with the promise to mysellf I would comfort me and say, you do it tomorrow. Of course there are things they have to be done this very day and that of course I do.

Today for example I have no special plan I wait for Maria the cleaning lady who arrives at 8 am still in the dark. Since the never ending lockdown I don't get up before 9 when it's daylight ! So once a week I can watch the sunraise, which mostly doesn't raise but only gives me light to turn off the electric light.

 

When I saw a beautiful sunrise for the very first time here in our new home I thought I should always get up, but when the days become longer I have to set my alarm clock to see the sun raise.
Then it's better to watch sunsets because they are also beautiful and to a decent time. Anyway when I sort out my photos I sometimes don't remember if its a sunrise or a sunset !

I switch on the TV for the News while I am waiting for Maria and as each day I see a graphic with numbers and arrows that show how many dead, how many infected and how many have been discharged from the hospital. The vaccinations started here in the retirement homes and the medical staff. Now they have to discuss for a while where the vaccination centers should be installed. Meanwhile we are still under curfew at 10 pm and all restaurants and hairdressers are closed. Our politicians who should look like Hippies by now, are always well groomed like cats (strange).  They probably all have a wife at home who is a hairdresser.

This post was the first thing I did this morning and now I think about another plan for today.

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